Add Your Own Art/Sounds/Music

Welcome to the Patch Help pages. I understand that patches are something that confuses many people, so I'm going to try to have things explained as best, and basic, as I can.

Let's start with the basic idea of patches. If you break it down as simple as you can, you can use patches to modify two aspects of Furcadia; visual aspects and audio aspects. This includes .pcx files, .fsh files, .wav files and .mid files. The majority of these patched files can be found in the patches\default\ folder that is located within your main Furcadia folder.

Pcx files are the picture files that Furcadia uses to display the various windows, screens, and text. You can edit these and include them in a patch for either yourself or your dream. These are tricky, however, as you can make navigating through Furcadia confusing if you change things around too much. When you include one of these .pcx files in your patch, you need to make sure that it's named the exact same way that the original is. If you do not, it won't work.

Fsh files are the files that are most commonly changed in patches. Fsh stands for Furcadia Shape Handler, and deals with the "inner" graphics of Furcadia - the stuff you see in the visual box of the Furcadia window. This includes the avatars, objects, walls, floor tiles, etc. When you include one of these .fsh files in your patch, you need to make sure that it's named the exact same way that the original is. If you do not, it won't work.

Wav files are the sounds that you hear in Furcadia - the bells, bird chirps, water splashes, spring noises. Wav files are different in the respect that they're all named S#.wav. There are currently 80 sounds that come with Furcadia, so the .wav files are named S1.wav through S80.wav. When you include a .wav file in your patch, it is generally best to give it a number that doesn't already exist. This is useful because it allows you to use both the original sounds and the sounds you included. If you were to add a new .wav to your patch and named it S1.wav, you'd be replacing the S1.wav that is normally heard. I start all of my .wav files at 100, so that I know they're mine (S100.wav, S101.wav, S102.wav, etc...). Patched .wav files can be used in Dragon Speak the same way that the original .wav files are used. This is why you'd want to include your own .wav files in your patches.

Mid files are the newest of the patchable files. Mid files stand for MIDI (Music Instrument Digital Interface), and are what play music in your dreams. MIDIs tend to be rather basic, in terms of musical depth (no vocals) but they're great to add to your dreams, nonetheless. Like .wav files, .mid files need to be named a certain way. All .mid files are named M#.mid. There are currently 10 MIDIs that come with Furcadia, so the .mid files are named M1.mid through M10.mid. When you include a .mid file in your patch, it is generally best to give it a number that doesn't already exist. This is useful because it allows you to use both the original MIDIs and the MIDIs you included. Patched .mid files can be used in Dragon Speak and Entrymusic the same way that the original .mid files are used. This is why you'd want to include your own .mid files in your patches.

Now that you know a little bit more about the patchable types of files, you're ready to learn how to edit them. I'm going to say this now, so that I don't have to say it four times. Before you do any editing/renaming of images and audio files, be sure to save a copy of the originals somewhere to act as a backup. I'm sure most of you do this already, but I know that it needed mentioning.

Now that you have a backup of the file you wish to edit and patch, choose one of the four file types.

Great! You now have all the files edited that you want to include in your patch. Now you need to learn how to connect your patch to either your Furcadia client or your private dream. Connecting your patch to your Furcadia client makes it so that you see all of your changes, no matter where you are in Furcadia. The problem is that only you can see the changes. If you attach the patch to your dream, the patch changes only occur within your dream, but any furre that enters will also see the changes. Attaching patches to dreams is the more popular choice, since it's fun to show off your patches.

Well, did it work? If so, great! You deserve a pat on the back, because working with patches can be very tricky. Did it fail to work? If so, double-check to see that you did everything correctly. If you have any further questions about it, please make sure that the information isn't found anywhere else in these guides and then feel free to contact the Beekin Helpers.